Review: Bane (Strain, #2) by Amelia C. Gormley

Blub:The weapon that nearly destroyed humanity may be their only salvation.

Rhys Cooper’s unique immunity to all three strains of the virus that nearly annihilated humanity has brought him the unwanted attention of Clean Zone scientists. They’ve summoned him for testing—ostensibly in the hopes of finding a vaccine—but Rhys’s partner, Darius Murrell, has good reason not to trust any government. He and his comrades in Delta Company were unwitting test subjects for Project Juggernaut, the military experiment that gave them superhuman abilities and unleashed the pandemic. Doubting the government’s intentions, Delta Company refuses to let Rhys go alone.

Fear of infection has kept Zach Houtman and his lover Nico Fernández apart for a decade. They meet rarely, just long enough to coordinate their spying on the head of the government’s virus research division. Secretary Littlewood is a vicious predator, and they suspect he’s trying to acquire the strain of the virus that would make him superhuman. To stop him, they need the perfect bait: Rhys.

For Rhys, helping them might cost him his relationship with Darius—or his life. For Zach and Nico, even if their plan succeeds, they still face the ultimate question: can infected and uninfected people ever live together safely?

Musings:

This takes place 2 years after Strain and brings together both Darius/Rhys and Nico/Zachary.

It’s not necessary to read Juggernaut before this one, but it helps clear up a few things and may make it a little easier to see the reasoning behind some things.

We see that Darius and Rhys are in a monogamous relationship now, but they are struggling hard. Darius is still struggling over dragging Rhys around with him and possibly getting him infected. Rhys doesn’t care and doesn’t connect with the uninfected humans in the clean zone, so of course, he fights to stay with Darius. And if they are having a hard time, Nico and Zach are having an impossible one. They’ve had a 10 year long distance relationship in which they never see each other.

Zach seriously annoyed me sometimes, even though I understood his reasoning for the stubborn refusal of the Alpha virus. To be honest, I read this more to get resolution for Darius and Rhys, but I’m glad to say closure was given for everyone and I got a very satisfying ending.

While this series is not for everyone due to the controversial sex, I would recommend to those that like on the edge of dark reads.